Rhistiria the Riptide
Rhistiria the Riptide, the Mistress of the Deep is a sea dragon older than the most ancient of dragons on Vir'Exalon. They say she is the first of her kind. Through unknown means, the Riptide has prevented her twilight and continues to grows in size, power, and wisdom as the years pass. The few sightings of the Mistress of the Deep in recent memory describe her as a serpent hundreds of feet long, with blue crystals embedded in her body. The head is bestial, with razor sharp fins, rows of teeth, and two glowing yellow eyes. No one knows exactly the purpose of the Riptide on Vir'Exalon, aside from insatiable need to maintain life and grow. She has been sighted in great storms, extending above the waves into the open skies if for but a moment. Scholars conjecture that the Riptide grows an army of deep sea creatures, intent on assaulting the world and covering it in her domain. What we do know for sure is that the brood of Rhistiria has grown large for a dragon population, despite the near genocide the dragons experienced after the God's War. Scholars speculate that the sea dragons are the most common dragon on Vir'Exalon to this day, due to the efforts of their Mistress. Warlocks and followers of Rhistiria have entirely surrendered themselves to the bestial whims of their Mistress. It is said that to invoke her name to a sea dragon is to be led to a life of servitude to the Riptide. Her nature is known to exhibit itself in her followers through a slow transformation into a darker, more primal creature. They have been seen manifesting the tail of Rhistiria to use in their schemes. Cults of the Deep Mistress often are found in coastal caves, the beaten down followers of some young or adult sea dragon or another deep sea creature. Rhistiria is a malignant force, not content with peace, nor compromise, nor failure. Followers who disobey are known to have been lured to the sea by her influence, only for a creature to have a tasty meal, a gift from the Riptide. Despite her roots as a true animal of the sea, Rhistiria is said to be mysterious, conniving, cruel, and an all together self serving and evil creature. She has been known to make deals with other evil entities in the world, such as the most famous Scourge of the Blood Sails, who allied with the Riptide and her forces in a plot to control all of the seas, which very nearly would have worked if not for his untimely death at the hands of an assassin. They call this assassin "The One who Saved the Waters", and both the Deep Mistress and the Anocracy are known to hate the name. The Riptide has also a famous archenemy in the Dread Captain, Wellington Zane. As the two greatest forces to manifest in the seas, neither can destroy one another, but they wage near constant warfare underneath the depths in an eternal battle for dominance. Because of this, and Zane's somewhat neutral, almost kindly mentality to the peoples above the waters, the Captain is often favored among men compared to the Riptide. It is seen as a betrayal to all of intelligent bipedal life to worship the Mistress of the Deep, though many do despite the sentiment.